June 28, 2007

The Golden Rule of Charter Schools

The NY Times looks at the bigfooting philanthropy of the Reich family and their threat to stop contributing to the Beginning with Children Charter School without major changes. The Times sees several trends in this development. To wit, “The clash has exposed fault lines of wealth and class that are perhaps inevitable as philanthropists, in New York and nationwide, increasingly invest in public education, providing new schools to children in poor neighborhoods while making communities dependent on their generosity.

 

And for those lucky to have such benefactors, the situation raises core questions: Who ultimately controls charter schools, which are financed by taxpayers but often rely heavily on charitable donations? Do the schools, which operate outside the control of the local school district, answer to parents, or to their wealthy founders?”